Competition Rules, Format, and Guidelines

Team Check In

Number of Matches

Three (3) matches will be scheduled for each team in the tournament regardless of division. Unforeseen forfeits may affect the number of matches played by each team.

Additional matches will be scheduled in each bracket to determine first and second place (see Competition Format below).

Eligibility & Roster

Roster size — Rosters will be limited to 15 players except in the case of for USA Rugby Qualifier matches which have a roster size of only 12. Note that the roster size does not affect the total substitutions in any one match (see below).

Liability Waiver — Each team must submit a roster/waiver form to the tournament director prior to starting play. Players may also be required to provide an active membership number from USA Rugby or a similar national governing body.

One player. One team. One bracket — A player may only play for one team in one bracket. Any team that plays an individual that is not on the team roster will forfeit the match.

Seniors Brackets — Players in any “seniors” bracket must meet the minimum age for that bracket (35+, 45+, etc…).

High School/U19 Players — High School players must be less than 19 years of age and have NOT played any college rugby.

Red Cards — A player sent off with a red card for any reason will be considered OUT of the tournament and not permitted to participate for the remainder of the event (see all Disciplinary Guidelines below).

Substitutions

As of June 18, 2016 and following World Rugby Sevens Law Variation 3.4, a team may substitute the same player more than once as long as no more than 5 substitutions are made in total in any one game.

Competition Format

Matches will be played every 20 minutes (i.e. 8:00, 8:20, 8:40, etc…) and will consist of two, 7-minute halves and a 2-minute half-time. Teams more than 2 minutes late for a scheduled match will forfeit that match.

To provide appropriate competition for all participants, the tournament is organized into Divisions based on age, gender and skill-level. The teams in each division are then sorted into one or more brackets that will compete in Seeding Rounds (round-robin format) and Playoff Rounds. Each team will play 3 matches in the Seeding Round (barring unforeseen forfeits). The format of the Seeding Round and advancement to the Playoff Rounds is based on the total number of teams in the Division and will be displayed on-site during the event.

Tie-breakers

In the event of a tie during the Seeding Round, official Midwest RFU tie-breakers will be used in the following order: (i) Record, (ii) Head to head, (iii) Tries scored, (iv) Points scored, (v) Try differential, (vi) Point differential, (vii) Penalty kicks and (viii) Coin Toss.

In case of a tie in Playoff Rounds, ‘sudden death’ overtime will determine the winner. Sudden death periods will be 5 minutes in duration with a 1-minute break. These periods will continue until a team scores.

Disciplinary Guidelines

The following guidelines will be used for disciplinary issues:

Yellow cards will last for 2 minutes.

A player sent off (red card) during any match is ineligible for the remainder of the tournament.

Two yellow cards in a single match is a red card.

Qualifier bracket (when appropriate)

When the Lakefront 7s has been selected as a USA Rugby National Qualifier event, results will be forwarded to Midwest RFU following the competition who will assign points to the top-placed teams as appropriate. The format and eligibility for the Qualifier may differ from above and all Qualifier matches will be governed by Midwest guidelines.

News Archives

A regional tradition

The Lakefront 7s is the largest summer rugby event in the United States. Hosted annually since 1982 the Lakefront 7s attracts on average 125 teams and 2000 participants from across the country and around the world.

Held on the scenic shores of Lake Michigan in the heart of historic Milwaukee, the Lakefront 7s features men's and women's brackets for all skill levels, boys and girls high school brackets, and co-ed tag rugby for athletes in middle and elementary school.